Front fastening device for vehicle-tops.



) Emu-mm A. E. SMITH.

FRONT FASTENING DEVICE FOR VEHICLE TOPS.

APPLICATION FILED saw. 1, 1909.

979,893, Patented Dec. 27, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Amman:

A. E. SMITH.

FRONT FASTENING DEVICE FOR VEHICLE TOPS. APPLICATION FILED any-1x1,1909.

979,893.. Patented Dec. 27,1910.

2 BHEETB-SHEET 2.

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fiimusru err sr ALBERT E. SMITH, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OFONE-HALF T0 LEONARD .A.

YOUNG, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

erases.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 27, 1910.

Application filed September 1, 1909. Serial No. 515,560.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT E. SMITH, a citiaen of the United States,residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne, State of Michigan, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Front Fastening Devicesfor Vehicle-Tops; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a front fastening device for vehicle tops,especially designed for use upon automobiles, and consists in theconstruction and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully set forthand pointed out particularly in the claims.

The object of the invention is to provide simple and efficient means forfastening the forward ends of the guy or brace straps attached to thefront of an automobile top, either to the frame of the vehicle or to thebrace rod of the wind shield, in a manner to enable said straps to bequickly and securely fastened and readily and easily unfastened, whendesired, the arrangement being such as to relieve the strap and top fromexcessive strain during the operation of fastening and unfastening,thereby avoiding injury to the top.

The above object is attained by the structure illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective View of thefront end of the frame and body of an automobile with a top thereon,showing the application of my fastening device for attaching the frontstay straps of the top to the wind shield braces. Fig. 2 is an enlargedfragmentary view in elevation of the fastening device mounted on thewind shield brace rod and connected by a telescopic brace rod with abracket on the dash. Fig. 3 is an elevation of one of the membersemployed, to make a jointed connection between the ends of thetelescopic brace and the brackets on the dash, and on the wind shieldbrace rod, respectively. Fig. 4: is an enlarged fragmentary View,showing the pivoted hook carried by the bracket on the wind shield bracerod engaging the ring in the end of the front brace or guy strap. Fig. 5is an elevation of the bracket adapted to be mounted on the wind shieldbrace rod with the hook removed. Fig. 6 is an elevation of the hookadapted to be pivotally mounted in the bracket shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7shows a modification of the bracket illustrated in Fig. 5, to enablesaid bracket to be attached directly to the frame of the vehicle insteadof to the wind shield brace rod. Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view in sectionillustrating the telescopic joint employed in the lateral brace toconnect the wind shield rod with the dash.

Referring to the characters of reference, 1 designates an automobile topsuitably mounted upon a body 2 having upon the dash 3 thereof a windshield 4t braced by the downwardly extending rods 5, all of which partsare of common construction. Mounted upon said brace rods are thebrackets 6, each of which is provided with an aperture 7 through whichthe rod 5 passes, whereby said brackets become slidably mounted uponsaid rods. To enable said brackets to be locked to said rods whenproperly adjusted thereon, they are each provided with a setscrew 8.Each of the brackets 6 is also provided with an extended portion 9having a return bend 10, said bent portion being slotted as shown at 11in Fig. 5. Lying in said slot and pivoted at 12 bet-ween the sides ofthe bent portion 10 of the extension of said bracket is a hook 13 whichcoincides with the bent portion 10 when the parts are in theirnormalposition, said hook having an end portion 14 which extends somedistance from its point of pivot to afford the necessary leverage formanipulating the hook when carrying the strain of the brace strap.

In all cases Where the vehicle is equipped wit-h a wind shield, as shownin Fig. 1, the brace straps 15 instead of being sufiiciently long toextend downwardly and forwardly to the front end of the frame forattachment, as commonly practiced, need only be of such length as toextend from the front of the top to which they are suitably attached, asshown at 16, to the brackets 6 mounted on the rods 5 near their upperends, as shown. In order to prevent the rods 5 being sprung or drawn outof alinement by the strain of the straps 15, and to provide a firmattachment for the forward ends of said straps, the lateral braces 17are employed which extend between the brace rods 5 of the wind shieldand the dash, said braces being coupled at their outer ends to thebrackets6 and at their I inner ends to the dash brackets 18. To effect ajointed connection between the ends of the braces 17 and said brackets,said braces, which are hollow, are provided at each, end; with acoupling member 19 adapted to be brazed or otherwise secured in the endsof said braces and having a flat circular extension 20 provided with acentral aperture 21. The circular extensions 20 of the members 19v inthe outer ends of the braces 17 are adapted to lie between theprojecting ears 22 on the bracket 6, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, betweenwhich said parts are pivoted by the pivot pins 23. At the opposite endsof the braces 17 theflat portions of the coupling members 19 lie betweenthe cars 24 of the dash brackets 18, between which said parts arepivoted by the pins 25. By this arrangement the braces 17 are jointedlyconnected with the brackets on the dash and the slidable brackets on therods 5, enabling the rod brackets 6 to; be moved to any desired pointthereon to. suit the length of the straps 15. As the distance betweenthe pivotal points 25 of the braces 17 and the points of attachmentbetween said braces and the brackets 6 varies according to the positionof the brackets 6 upon the rods 5, it is necessary to make the braces 17telescopic, and also to provide for locking thetelescopic joint securelyafter adjustment. This is accomplished by making the upper tubularportion of the brace larger to receive the end of; the lower portionwhich slides therein, the end of the upper portion being split, as at26, and provided with a tapered thread 27 to receive an internallytapered and correspondingly threaded sleeve 28. Said sleeve when screwedonto the threads of the slotted portion of said brace will contract saidslotted portion upon. the lower part of the brace lying therein and lockthev two sections of the brace together.

By loosening the sleeve 28 the parts of the bracewill be released,allowing one part to slide within the other to adjust the brace toanydesired length. After adjustment the Parts of the brace may be securelylocked together by screwing the sleeve tightly onto the end of theslotted part.

The. ends of the straps 15 are provided with rings 29. To fasten theends of the straps tothe brackets 6 upon the rods 5, the hooks 13 areswung on their pivots so that their shanks or projecting ends 14 willextend rearwardly, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4;, allowing therings 29 at the ends. of the straps to be slipped over the free ends ofsaid hooks, when said hooks are swung forwardly on their pivots, therebydrawing said rings. into the return. bends 10 in the extensions 9 of thebrackets, 6, the bent portion of the hook 13 at the completion of saidoperation conforming to. said return bends and lying-in the slot betweenthe sides there.-

of. As the portion of the hook engaged by the ring in the strap isrearward of the point of pivot of said hook, the strain eX- erted uponthe hook by said strap Wlll only tend to hold the hook closed, therebypreventing the accidental disengagement of the ring therefrom. The lonshank or end 14 of the hook afiords su cient leverage to enable the hookto be readily swung upon its pivot from the position shown by dottedlines in Fig. 4: to the position shown by solid lines in said figure tocarry the ring of the strap into the bend 10 of the extension of thebracket 6 under such tension as to prevent accidental disengagementthereof. When it is desired to uncouple the strap or disconnect it fromthe bracket 6, it is only necessary to swing the end 1 1 of the hookrearwardly to carry the ring in the strap I free from the bend 10, whensaid ring will pass from the open end of the hook, affording a readymeans for disconnecting the straps.

In cases where a wind shield is not employed, it will be necessary tocarry the I straps 15 forwardly and downwardly tothe front end of thevehicle frame. Under such conditions the brackets 6 are dispensed withand the modified brackets 30, shown in. Fig. 7, employed, which arebolted to the frame 31, but which in. other respects are the same as thesliding brackets 6 illustrated in the other views, the operation ofattaching the strap thereto'being the same, as that already described.

It will be noted that when the fastening device is used in connectionwith the brace I rods of a wind shield, the lateral braces 17 which areemployed, take the strain off of the wind shield brace rods and afford ase cure fastening for the ends of the straps, said fastening parts beingadjustable to compensate for any variation in the distance between thepoints of attachment.

Having thus fully set forth my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A front top fastener, comprising a flexible member attached to thetop and having a ring at its end, an inclined brace,

a slidable bracket mounted thereon and hava hooked extension adapted toengage said ring, a hook pivotally mounted on said hooked extension tocoincide therewith and lie in the plane thereof, said hook being adaptedto receivethe ring on said strap and confine said ring in the hookedextension of the bracket.

2. The combination with an automobilevice.

3. The combination of an automobile top, a wind shield brace rod, abracket slidable on said brace rod, a strap attached to the top anddetachably coupled to said bracket, and a lateral brace connected at oneend with said brace rod, and at the other end with a fixed support.

at. A front fastening for an automobile top, comprising a strap attachedto said top and having a ring at the end thereof, a wind shield bracerod, a bracket slidable upon said rod, a member on said bracket adaptedto detachably engage the ring on said strap, and a lateral braceconnected to said bracket.

5. A front fastening for an automobile top comprising a strap attachedto said top, a wind shield brace rod, a bracket slidable upon said rodand adapted to be fixedly secured thereto, means for detachablyconnecting the end of said strap to said bracket, and a lateraltelescopic brace connected to said bracket and to a fixed support.

6. A front fastening for an automobile top, comprising an inclined bracerod, a bracket adjustably mounted thereon, a relatively short strapattached to the front of said top, means for detachably connecting theend of said strap to said bracket, and a lateral brace adjustable inlength connecting said bracket to a fixed support.

7. A front fastening for an automobile top, comprising a Wind shieldbrace, a relatively short strap attached at one end to the automobiletop and having at the other end an engageable member, and a fasteningdevice comprising a hooked bracket adjustably mounted on said brace rodand engaged by the engageable member on said strap.

8. A front fastening for an automobile top, comprising an inclined bracerod, a relatively short strap attached to the front of the top, meansfor detachably connecting said strap to said brace rod, and a lateralbrace connecting said brace rod to a fixed support.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of twoWitnesses.

ALBERT E. SMITH.

Witnesses:

O. B. BAENZIGER, I. Gr. HOWLETT.

